Chapter 22 - 13: Differences of Opinion

When Director Zhou Wenbin of the Medical Affairs Office rushed back from the health bureau meeting, the dust had already settled.Mrs. Jiang woke up on her own before even receiving emergency treatment after being sent to the ER. The hospital had notified her family and advised that for safety, she remains under observation for 24 hours.

Zhou Wenbin encountered Tan Guoliang at the entrance of the administrative office building.

Tan Guoliang greeted him proactively, asking why he came back so late, noting that the director should have been present given the significant incident that occurred at the Medical Affairs Office today.

Zhou Wenbin felt slightly guilty for not being there at the critical moment. He explained to Tan Guoliang that he had been in a meeting and rushed back as soon as he got the call before the meeting ended. He then inquired about the situation in the department.

Tan Guoliang quietly told him that the new recruit Xiaoxu was truly a Tiger General, and that the Medical Affairs Office needed more talents like that.

Hearing this, Zhou Wenbin felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. At this moment, Security Chief Yu Xiangdong approached with a group of security guards in tow. Tan Guoliang sneered: "A bunch of freeloaders." He had no desire to greet them and left before they arrived.

Zhou Wenbin smiled at Yu Xiangdong. Although he was often dissatisfied with Yu Xiangdong’s work efficiency, it was necessary to keep up appearances.

With a face like iron, Yu Xiangdong approached Zhou Wenbin and gave him a thumbs-up: "Old Zhou, your Medical Affairs people are really something, calling the police without informing us in Security first."

Zhou Wenbin retorted, "That can’t be right. They must have notified you before calling the police."

"How can it not be? They called 110 right in front of me. We’re all colleagues; why make it so unpleasant?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenbin got angry. Do you not know your own department’s poor reputation? When something happens, you’re nowhere to be found; when there’s danger, you hide miles away, and now you turn around and blame us.

"What’s so unpleasant about it? I guess our young colleagues in Medical Affairs couldn’t wait for you to arrive and felt their personal safety was threatened, so they had no choice but to call the police. If it were you, you’d do the same when in danger, wouldn’t you?"

Yu Xiangdong heard the sarcasm in his words: "Old Zhou, what do you mean? Whenever the Medical Affairs office has issues, aren’t we the ones who clean up the mess? With your attitude, no wonder your subordinates act this way."

"What attitude are you talking about? It doesn’t seem right for your Security Department to guide how we do things in the Medical Affairs Office, does it?"

"Since you’re so capable, don’t bother seeking help from our Security Department when things arise. You can handle everything yourself."

"If that’s how you see it, then we indeed won’t trouble you anymore. Two main gates and a parking lot; you all are just too busy, incredibly busy."

"Zhou Wenbin, what’s that supposed to mean?"

"That’s how I usually talk."

"If you have any dissatisfaction with our Security Department’s work, you can say it openly. Don’t retaliate in a way that affects us slightly but severely impacts the hospital’s image."

"How have I affected the hospital’s image? Are you suggesting I take off my white coat and put on a security uniform to truly represent the hospital’s image?" The accumulated grievances were long-standing, and Yu Xiangdong’s accusations completely ignited Zhou Wenbin.

Right at the office building entrance, the two engaged in a heated debate, their voices growing louder, eventually catching the attention of Vice Dean Gao Xinhua.

In truth, Gao Xinhua didn’t want to intervene, but Dean Gu Houyi had pushed the matter onto him. Two section chiefs openly quarreling in broad daylight, with many employees and patients watching—how could they maintain a middle-level image and face?

Gao Xinhua instructed Office Director Liu Dengke to bring the two to his office.

Both Yu Xiangdong and Zhou Wenbin, their faces flushed with anger, entered Gao Xinhua’s office, still eyeing each other like two combat-ready roosters.

There was a reason Gu Houyi had asked Gao Xinhua to handle this. Gao Xinhua himself came from the Security Department, and it was he who had recommended Yu Xiangdong as his successor. As for Zhou Wenbin, everyone knew he hailed from the same hometown, sharing a protective and special affinity as fellow villagers. Gu Houyi was well aware of Zhou Wenbin’s inadequacies, finding it challenging for him in his role as Director of the Medical Affairs Office.

The Medical Affairs Office is crucial and not everyone can manage it well. In recent years, medical disputes in Changxing had been soaring due to intrinsic issues with medical quality, and there were also significant loopholes in the handling processes by the Medical Affairs Office. An excellent director should be able to mitigate major problems into minor ones, but Zhou Wenbin’s strength lay not in resolving conflicts but in avoiding them.

Office Director Liu Dengke cheerfully informed Gao Xinhua, "Dean Gao, I’ve brought them here for you. There’s still a task at Dean Gu’s side, so I’ll head over first."

Gao Xinhua nodded, and after Liu Dengke left, he casually closed the office door.

Gao Xinhua drew a cigarette from the pack, not even looking directly at the two of them, and said slowly, "Whoever wants to smoke, come on over and take one."

It was at this point that Yu Xiangdong and Zhou Wenbin broke their hostile stares. They saw Gao Xinhua already holding a cigarette in his mouth, yet unlit, searching for a lighter.

Zhou Wenbin didn’t smoke, but Yu Xiangdong understood the cue and hurriedly took out a lighter to help light Gao Xinhua’s cigarette.

Zhou Wenbin looked on coldly, inwardly cursing him as a sycophant.

Gao Xinhua said, "Please, take a seat. The tea is already brewed for you both."

Yu Xiangdong, smiling obsequiously, remarked, "How can we trouble Dean Gao with such trivial matters."

Gao Xinhua replied, "We’re all colleagues; there isn’t a hierarchy here, right, Director Zhou?"

Zhou Wenbin smiled and responded, "Even among colleagues, there are ranks. You are our superior leader." Who doesn’t know how to flatter a superior?

Gao Xinhua flicked the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray, gesturing for them to sit down.

Yu Xiangdong and Zhou Wenbin sat down on the double sofa, deliberately keeping a distance from each other, looking very much like a little couple having a tiff.

Gao Xinhua said, "Do you two have some deep-seated hatred?"his style had been in place since Gao Xinhua was the head of the security department. One could say he learned from him, but no matter what he thought, he didn’t dare to say it out loud. His head drooped down: "Dean Gao, Changxing is so big; we have more than ten big and small disputes every day. Our manpower simply can’t handle it..."

"Don’t emphasize the reasons. When I was in the security department, there were only seven of us, yet we were responsible for the entire security of Changxing, and didn’t we keep security in perfect order? Now you have dozens of formal employees plus security guards, and disputes are getting more frequent. Shouldn’t you reflect on your issues?"

Yu Xiangdong was frustrated. How could being the head of the security department have been the same as it is now? Patients used to respect healthcare workers, but now their awareness of their rights has increased many times, leading to excessive rights protection, and social opinion is also unfavorable to healthcare workers, making the doctor-patient relationship increasingly tense. Everyone says the security department is inactive, but they are the ones experiencing the most criticism and attacks in the whole hospital.

Hospital management even demands they don’t hit back or talk back, making the job truly difficult.

Gao Xinhua then said to Zhou Wenbin: "Where were you when the dispute happened?"

Zhou Wenbin replied, "I was at a meeting at the Health Bureau..."

Gao Xinhua said, "You have more meetings than I do? You’re either in a meeting or on the way to one every day. In a situation like today’s, shouldn’t you, as the director of the medical affairs office, be on the scene?"

"The meeting was important, so..."

"Don’t emphasize reasons. Which meeting isn’t important? I’ve worked at Changxing for so many years; what don’t I understand?"

Gao Xinhua looked at Zhou Wenbin and then at Yu Xiangdong. Both of them drooped their heads. Gao Xinhua was perceptive; their little secrets couldn’t be hidden from him.

Gao Xinhua said, "You’re all colleagues in the same unit. Even if you can’t become friends who face adversity together, you shouldn’t become enemies, right? I don’t interfere with your work, but given what just happened, I have to remind you: don’t let it happen again."

Zhou Wenbin and Yu Xiangdong nodded repeatedly.

Gao Xinhua put out his cigarette butt: "Don’t schedule anything for tonight. I’ll host; the small restaurant under my house is quite good. Let’s go there for a meal."

Zhou Wenbin and Yu Xiangdong exchanged glances, both nodding again. When a leader extends an invitation, they have to show respect. Both were ready to pay the bill first, saying the leader shouldn’t have to cover the cost.

At this moment, Cheng Xiaohong called, still about Mrs. Jiang. Zhou Wenbin said he had to leave early to deal with matters in the department.

Yu Xiangdong wasn’t in a hurry to leave. To show that he humbly accepted the criticism, he especially got up to see Zhou Wenbin to the door, closing it behind him.

Gao Xinhua knew he was still upset; he must have something to say, staying behind.

Yu Xiangdong first took out a pack of soft Zhonghua cigarettes, offered one to Gao Xinhua respectfully, lit it, and then said, "Dean Gao, I accept all your criticisms just now, but this isn’t how the medical affairs office should operate. We were already there and had the situation under control. Even if the police were to be called, it should have been us doing it, shouldn’t it?"

Gao Xinhua took a drag from his cigarette but didn’t express anything. He wasn’t aware of the specific situation in the medical affairs office; Dean Gu had asked him to handle the internal dispute.

Yu Xiangdong said, "You don’t know how arrogant the new kid in the medical affairs office is. Even after I said I would handle it, he still called 110 in front of so many people! Isn’t that openly slapping the face of our security department?"

Gao Xinhua furrowed his brows, clearly somewhat displeased.

Yu Xiangdong mistakenly thought Gao Xinhua was also feeling indignant on his behalf: "I don’t know whose connections got him in. He thinks he’s above everyone else, young and presumptuous!"

Gao Xinhua leaned back against the chair, his robust body causing the chair to creak. He looked up and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his voice rising with the smoke, leisurely: "You’re talking about Xu Chunliang, right? I arranged for him."

Yu Xiangdong’s ten toes suddenly clenched. If not for the shoes, he could have scratched out a three-bedroom apartment on the floor. How awkward, failing to do some background research beforehand and ended up complaining about Old Gao himself.

Gao Xinhua said unhurriedly, "I actually think young people should be a bit more spirited!"